The City Commission unanimously voted Wednesday to approve a construction contract for the long-delayed distribution pump station at the Golden Gem reclaimed water facility. 

The commission awarded Carr & Collier Inc. an $11,545,700 contract, with a 10% contingency bringing the total authorized amount to $12,700,270. 

The pump station will allow the city to move reclaimed water out of the Golden Gem storage ponds and into Apopka’s distribution system.  

“This is the Golden Gem reuse pond pump that has been delayed for some time,” Mayor Nick Nesta said. “We’re able to pump water into the reuse pond. We’ve never been able to pump it out.” 

The city also is moving ahead with reconstruction of the West Pond, which has approximately 50 million gallons of storage capacity. 

Interim City Administrator Radley Williams said the preliminary design for the West Pond reconstruction has been completed and the city’s consultant is finalizing the design, with completion targeted for the end of August. 

The pump station construction is expected to take about 18 months from the time work begins. 

Nesta said the project “has been needed for a very, very long time.” 

Golden Gem consists of two large reclaimed-water storage ponds. The facility has not become fully operational because the distribution pump station was never completed, while liner failures and other problems also have required pond reconstruction following a January 2024 sinkhole. 

The city is prioritizing reconstruction of the smaller West Pond before turning its attention to the larger East Pond. At a June workshop, officials said West Pond reconstruction was expected to be completed by March 2027, while a completion date for the East Pond remains uncertain. 

During public comment, Golden Gem Road resident Albert McKimmie questioned what happened to grant funding that he believed had been intended for a ground storage tank at Golden Gem. 

“There’s some confusion,” Simonovski said, explaining that the $1.5 million federal grant McKimmie referenced helped fund the recently completed ground storage tank at the Northwest Water Treatment Plant, not Golden Gem. 

Simonovski said a separate funding package of about $2.25 million was connected to Golden Gem and could have been used for a ground storage tank, piping or the pump station. He confirmed that the tank was later removed from the original plan but said he did not know why. 

City Finance Director Blanche Sherman said she would research the grant history and provide additional information publicly. 

Dr. Phyllis Olmstead urged the city to move quickly, saying residents in northern Apopka have experienced low reclaimed-water pressure that has affected irrigation systems. 

“It’s imperative that it gets fixed because people’s equipment are being ruined,” she said. “They’re missing work. Irrigation companies won’t come work except during business hours, and that’s when the tanks are down.”